I don't want to be overly pessimistic, but I do believe Fast 6 could potentially whack the Enterprise out of warp speed next week. It's already opened here in the UK, so it'll be fascinating to see how it impacts on STID over this weekend.

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Someone should do some CGI of a Ford Mustang running the Enterprise down and knocking it out of warp.

That and frankly, who likes to go to a movie then have to get up and go to work or school the next day? I don't think the early openings are anything more than attempts to get buzz out there before the real weekend opening.

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Some Thursday May openings have delivered very strong numbers. Indy 4 opened on a Thursday in May 2008 and did $25 million for the day. The Matrix Reloaded did $37 million on its Thursday opening in May 2003 and Star Wars, Episode III did $50 million on its opening Thursday in May 2005.

That and frankly, who likes to go to a movie then have to get up and go to work or school the next day? I don't think the early openings are anything more than attempts to get buzz out there before the real weekend opening.

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Some Thursday May openings have delivered very strong numbers. Indy 4 opened on a Thursday in May 2008 and did $25 million for the day. The Matrix Reloaded did $37 million on its Thursday opening in May 2003 and Star Wars, Episode III did $50 million on its opening Thursday in May 2005.

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That's hardly a fair comparison though. Indiana Jones, The Matrix and Star Wars are JUGGERNAUTS of the box office. Of course Star Trek isn't going to pull in those kinds of numbers, especially when it was a last-minute change.

That's hardly a fair comparison though. Indiana Jones, The Matrix and Star Wars are JUGGERNAUTS of the box office. Of course Star Trek isn't going to pull in those kinds of numbers, especially when it was a last-minute change.

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The last-minute change is a fair enough factor to mention, but Indy 4 did $317 million domestic and The Matrix Reloaded did $281 million domestic. They're much bigger juggernauts worldwide than Trek, but their domestic numbers are in the range that STiD is aiming for.

Key thing for me is that it points out the A cinemascore. I will find out which movies have got that in the last few years in a bit but it could be critical to long term $$$

Igniting what should be a $100 million Stateside bow, Paramount’s “Star Trek Into Darkness” grossed $10.2 million on Thursday, for a domestic total so far of $13.5 million, including late-night and midnight showings.

Film Review: “Star Trek: Into Darkness”

Overseas, the sequel has reached $47 million with early bows in seven markets last weekend. The film expanded day-and-date to an additional 33 territories. Pic’s global tally is $60.5 million and counting.

Stateside prospects for the film look especially strong after Thursday; pic received a rare ‘A’ CinemaScore rating from early viewers, which is good since they tend to be most vocal driving word-of-mouth. “Into Darkness” could surpass predictions depending on how well it plays with families and non-fanboys.

I think it's more likely they'd just not increase the budget, if it does well overseas and gets 200m+ along with 200m+ domestic it should be okay. I don't think Abrams is vital, I think Brad Bird would be a good choice as he did well with MI.

I think it's more likely they'd just not increase the budget, if it does well overseas and gets 200m+ along with 200m+ domestic it should be okay. I don't think Abrams is vital, I think Brad Bird would be a good choice as he did well with MI.

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I imagine Paramount would be extremely disappointed with a figure hovering around $400m. I hate to say it, but I'm predicting the movie will "underperform" - probably come in around $450m.

FRIDAY 1 PM, 3RD UPDATE: My sources say early matinees are very strong for Star Trek Into Darkness from Paramount Pictures, Skydance Productions, and director J.J. Abrams‘ Bad Robot. It continued its domestic run today in 3,762 theaters with a refined number of $13.4 million from Wednesday’s 336 IMAX late shows and Thursday’s midnights and then yesterday’s wide release. Today’s grosses are almost double Thursday’s and an early read of noon averages is ranging from $25M to $27M Friday and $80M to $88M for the 3-day weekend - with a prediction of $100M for the first four days. Abrams’ first 2009 installment of the long-running film franchise opened to $30.1M Friday (without a Thursday start) and $79M for the first weekend. Fandango reports the new pic’s ticket sales are outpacing the first movie at the same point in the cycle and 55% of surveyed filmgoers plan to see it more than once. Over 80% of MovieTickets sales are for Star Trek Into Darkness and that’s led to some 430 sold out screenings this weekend. Overseas, the iconic 3D space tentpole’s cume is now $47M through Thursday. More later…